Annie Marie Fox

Our February 1982 Playmate on conquering both sides of the lens

Beneath a photo that shows me in midair, leaping into splits, my Playmate pictorial begins with this canny observation: “Anne Marie Fox is eager to get on with the business of being Anne Marie Fox.” At 19, my ambition — and my impatience to make my own way in the world — was already apparent to my interviewer. Looking back, it’s clear to me that playboy captured a turning point in my life. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, my first experience in front of the camera catalyzed what would become my passion for working behind it.

When I was 11, I moved with my mother to West Germany, where I attended Gymnasium — an academics-focused secondary school. The German educators were just as strict as the Catholic nuns I was used to, but my time in West Germany was formative. I absorbed and adopted valuable aspects of the culture; discipline and a strict work ethic still shape my daily habits. Without my exposure to European culture, I doubt I would be as open-minded and liberal-thinking as I am today. Travel is truly the best educator.

It was while I was abroad that I discovered my first playboy, hidden in my German-language tutor’s bathroom. I remember thinking, I wish I had a body beautiful enough to be in playboy one day. Seven years later, after I had moved back to the States, my adolescent desire came true.